Fields of Flanders
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The song that got things rolling for me in Vancouver.
I arrived there in late January of '83. I kicked around for a bit and ended up in an original band called K.T. Rouge. One of our mainstays was a club called the Waterfront Cabaret. Ah. The Waterfront. That was where Fields of Flanders was first played. An honour that Al Hyland (Hyland Records) chose the track to be first cut/first side on his double vinyl LP.
That album would prove to be a landmark of who's who on the club scene at the time.
I think back to when I wrote this song. Not at my best, I'm afraid. I was suffering a flu along with bronchitis. The weakest I'd ever felt in my life. A cold October band house, Venables Street, Vancouver.
In and out of delirium. Nurses. Mended, I happened to go digging through my grandfather's old black satchel. The war satchel. Treasures. The wonders of the horrors that awaited men in the trenches and in no man's land itself. Photos blistered in time of comrades standing arm in arm. Medals long since tarnished. Letters from loved ones.
Blesses to the Lord for bringing you safely home. Lest we forget ...
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xo RJ